You Only Live Twice
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jul 28, 2026
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
An unforgettable, heartwarming, hilarious coming-of-age story about faith, family, all kinds of love, and a Black Muslim teen pursuing an ordinary goal in an extraordinary time.
Barely one week into senior year of high school, Boston native Zakiyyah is making her 2012-2013 Get Free Plan.
Step one: quit high school. (PSA: There are other ways to get to college!)
Step two: live like it’s Ramadan year-round.
As she gets deeper into her Plan, she starts to wonder if there’s someone out there who would be a good companion. To everyone’s surprise, Zakiyyah decides she wants to get married. But there are some complications.
Problem one: she’s never met a guy she liked. Zakiyyah’s family (reluctantly) and friends (eagerly) agree to support the search.
Problem two: what’s the secret to choosing a good life partner?
Enter Musa, by way of mutual friends. With marriage in mind, Zakiyyah and Musa get to know each other, progressing from email to instant messaging to phone calls. Things are going well… thrillingly well… until tragedy strikes Boston. In a moment of heightened emotion and stress, Zakiyyah and Musa have their first major disagreement.
Zakiyyah can call the whole thing off. But with or without Musa, what does it mean to live on her own terms?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Black Muslim teenager's desire to deepen her connection to her faith propels her to consider incisive questions about herself and the future in this intriguing romance from Allen (All You Have to Do). In 2013, 17-year-old Zakiyyah AbdusSalaam is ready to be "grown," and finishing high school no longer feels compatible with the life she envisions. For Zakiyyah, the masjid is a place of grounding and purpose, while school feels like an obstacle to becoming the person she believes she is meant to be. Soon, Zakiyyah embraces wearing niqab and starts attending community college classes. After observing Muslim couples in her community and on social media, she begins ruminating about their connection and researching young Muslim marriage online, wondering what it might mean to share her faith and life with a romantic partner. With support from her mother, her auntie, and her best friend Asiyah, Zakiyyah explores marriage possibilities in a novel that unfolds across a mix of journal entries, sticky notes, emails, and more, injecting emotional texture into the layered storytelling. Instances of Islamophobia are addressed with sensitivity balanced by sharp humor throughout an insightful narrative helmed by a charismatic, self-assured protagonist. It's an earnest examination of religious beliefs and impending adulthood. Ages 14–up.
